Marinette's Journal
by xxLadyBluejayxx
Summary: A peek inside Marinette's journal. Let's see what our favorite super heroine has going on. (TBH, I was given a thirty day writing challenge with daily prompts and decided to make Marinette write them for me:D There will be at least thirty chapters, maybe more. Rating may change depending on later chapters.) UPDATE: Might have some Chat POV later.
1. My Best Friend

My Best Friend

Hey Journal! It's me again! Today is Alya's Birthday so it is only right that I make today's entry all about my brilliant best friend, my partner in crime (sorry, Chat Noir), and my sister. Well, I might write a little about Adrien, but I can't help it. I am weak.

When you hear the words "Best Friend" odds are a face will pop up in your mind without your control. In my case, not only does Alya's face pop up, but her voice does too. Very loudly, I might add. In my mind, she is excitedly telling me something about her blog or she is violently urging me to talk to Adrien (sigh). It brings a smile to my face, just like the real Alya does.

Let me just try to explain how incredible this girl is. For starters, she is intensely brave. Nothing scares her. To be honest, that scares me. I can't tell you how many heart attacks she has given me as she recklessly puts herself in danger for the sake of her journalism. Still, I wish I was as fearless as her sometimes. She doesn't silently crush and pine. Alya goes out and gets what she wants. It's her super power.

I would say her most astonishing talent is her ability to put up with me. Alya knows the crazier parts of me and loves me anyway. She likes the less miraculous me and I don't even have to try. It makes me want to be better without making me feel bad about myself. Does that make sense? I mean, Alya knows my flaws. She loves me in spite of, or rather because of them. She helps me try to overcome them and is there for me when I don't.

I'm going to have to stop myself from writing anymore because I can already tell, this short summary could quickly become a book. I'll just hit the highlights. Alya is thoughtful and kind. She is alarmingly observant and at the same time, hopelessly oblivious. Alya stands up for what's right and never backs down. It's amazing how strong she is. I'm rambling but these are the things that pop up when I think of my dearest friend.

Alright, let me just tell you what this angel did for me today. So I was talking to Nino first period to settle on the details for Alya's party that afternoon. We had tried to keep it a secret but that fell through fast (That girl is an information shark. Simply savage). Anyway, she gave us privacy to plan the details. As I was talking to Nino, out of the corner of my eye I saw Alya talking to Adrien (sigh). I tried not to stare too long at his gorgeous face and pay attention to what Nino was saying. It was hard but I powered through, sort of.

At the end of first period, I was in my locker, completely oblivious to everything. I was thinking about the party arrangements. The theme was Ladybug (lol) and I was in charge of the cake and snacks. It would have all been easy as cake (zing) if my mom hadn't accidently sold my freshly decorated Ladybug cake to a little girl for her birthday. I forgot to mark it as personal so it was my own fault. Mentally, I was going through a list of all the things I needed to take care of (including making a whole new cake before tonight) as I shut my locker. Suddenly, Adrien's face was right where my locker door was.

Being the beacon of grace I am, I let out a small (not so small) shriek and did what I can only describe as jerky karate moves. Pretty great, tbh. I caught myself before I smacked the flawless model in his money making face.

"ADRIEN! WHAT- HOW- Hi?" I yelled at the poor (beautiful) boy.

"Hey, Marinette! Sorry to scare you. I was just talking to Alya about her 'surprise' birthday," he smiled and did the most aesthetically pleasing air quotes ever in the history of the world.

"Oh yeah! It is her birthday and we are having a party! You're right, she was born today and um yeah…" Can you read that and tell how much I wanted to die just then? I can still taste the awkward in my mouth. Adrien, being the literal angel from heaven that he is, didn't laugh at my stupidity at all. He only looked mildly confused (beautifully, mildly confused).

"Right… well, I was told that you were in charge and I just wanted to tell you that I'm free to help you. Nino said he had the music. Rose and Juleka are handling the decorations. I'm sort of feeling left out," he scratched the back of his head adorably.

"Oh, I didn't mean for you to feel left out! I'm sorry, Adrien! It's just I figured you would be busy doing model stuff or something, you know, because you are a model and um…" _Nice one, Marinette_.

"No need to be sorry! I appreciate your consideration. Still, I'd like to help. I'm free this afternoon from model stuff. Alya mentioned that you might have something for me to do…" he said as the first bell rang. We started walking to class. Together. _Adrien is walking me to class! Granted we have to go down the same hallway to get to our classes but still!_

"She said that? Well, I'm not really sure if that's true. The only thing left is for me to make the cake this afternoon and…"

"Perfect!" Adrien said with a beaming smile. We were at my art class door. Mentally, I let out a scream. _Adrien Agreste just walked me to my class. Adrien Agreste is smiling at me._

"You're perfect… WHAT-Uh I mean, what's perfect?" I squeaked. _Nice save, Marinette._

"I can help you make the cake this afternoon," he stated it like it was a simple fact.

"Cake?" was my stunning reply.

"Yeah, I'll come by the bakery right after school. In fact, we should have Gorilla drive us. Sound okay?" he was walking backwards, toward his next class. It was cute but a secret part of me wished he would stop facing me. I could feel my blush reaching dangerous tomato levels.

"Sounds okay," I choked out before heading to class. Needless to say, I was distracted mess for the rest of school.

I won't write about how amazing the drive was, with Adrien being funny and making my awkwardness less awkward (he said he was glad to have someone to talk to because his chauffer was usually quiet). I won't write about how much fun we had baking, even though I spilled flour all over him (it was so bad he had to take a shower, in _my shower!_ ). I won't go on about how charming and brilliant he was; even though he knew next to nothing of baking (he couldn't even preheat the oven).

I will tell you about the party and how I hugged Alya so tight, she started to turn blue. Nino kept the music going and the dance floor alive. The decorations done by the girls were adorable but it was a little strange seeing my face (or Ladybug's face) everywhere. The best part, according to everyone else, was the cake. Adrien gave me a fist bump when Kim complemented it loudly. It reminded me of Chat so much I found myself missing the crazy cat a bit.

Everyone seemed to have a good time. Chloé didn't make an appearance which was a blessing. I guess she didn't know Adrien was going to be there. Alya got lots of cool gifts from everyone. (I got her a Ladybug t-shirt, handmade by yours truly) As the party started to thin out, I caught Alya's arm.

"Hey, birthday girl," I whispered mischievously, "Thank you for the gift of Adrien today. You are literally a Friendship Goddess sent from the Friendship Gods of planet Freaking Awesome."

"Oh it was nothing! Well, it was something. Give me details! I saw you get in his limo, girl!" she gushed loudly. I was glad Adrien had already left.

"Later. I have a surprise for you. Tonight at midnight, a certain someone is going to knock on your window. You should let her in," I said with a smirk.

Of course she begged for details which I denied her. I got home as soon as I could but the commute took longer than normal. I gave my mom and dad a quick goodnight and rushed to my room to transform. Swinging as fast as I could, I made it to Alya's by ten past twelve.

I didn't even have to knock. She was on her balcony, waiting. I thought she would pass out when she saw Ladybug was her surprised guest. I told her that Marinette had sought out Ladybug to tell her it was Alya's birthday (Man, it's weird writing in third person).

"How could I miss the mastermind behind the LadyBlog's birthday?" I thought she would pass out after I said that. I answered some questions (vaguely) and took some selfies. I even did a short interview. All in all, I think Alya had a pretty good birthday. She definitely deserved it.


	2. Someone that Pesters my Mind

Someone that Pesters my Mind

Today was not as good as yesterday, ol' Journal ol' pal (They can't all be days of sunshine and rainbows). Chloé was enraged when she found out that Adrien was at the party without her. Not sure exactly how but she decided that I deliberately kept the information from her. Of course, I would totally do that in a heartbeat but I really was too busy to worry about keeping her from "her Adrikins."

She was still letting me have it when Adrien (sigh) and Nino came in. The demonic girl lost her fangs and claws when she saw the embodiment of perfection sit down in front of me. Chloé opened her mouth to say something but Adrien began speaking first.

"Hey Marinette! I was thinking; did I ever thank you for yesterday? I don't think I did and it's been bothering me. I had a really fun time at the bakery. I know I wasn't much help but I really enjoyed getting a chance to make something," Adrien spoke directly to me, not even noticing Chloé. He looked a little embarrassed which I thought was strange. Adrien was always so confident. My brain decided to melt and pour out my ears at the sight of his slight blush.

Chloé began making some animal like noises that were just downright scary. Her face was fire red as she turned to me with rage filled eyes. I was caught between being frightened of Chloé strangling me and scared of talking to Adrien. Nino (I love that boy) saved me from answering.

"Adrien cooking? Marinette, you're lucky he didn't set the place on fire!" he said with a laugh hitting his best friend's back. Adrien put on a pretend pout but soon joined in the mirth. It was contagious, and I started giggling with them. The only one left out was Chloé, who was still standing beside my desk when the teacher came in.

"Miss Bourgeois, whenever you're ready, I'd like to begin class," the class snickered at Miss Bustier's comment. Seeing Chloé bustle to her desk in anger gave me no satisfaction though. I could just imagine her turning into an akuma again. For some reason, I leaned toward her and whispered an apology after she had sat down. This shocked everyone, including me. Her face twisted up in a smug sneer as she turned back around at her seat. I felt a bit defeated but it was worth swallowing my pride to avoid another "Antibug" incident.

 _Can't believe I'm even thinking this, but I'm glad Alya's not here. She would have died if she heard me apologize to the wicked witch of the class._ As if Nino read my mind, he turned around and asked where Alya was in a low tone.

"She texted me last night and said she was going to miss first period. Apparently, she stayed up late working on some new Ladybug stuff for the blog," I tried and failed to keep the pride from my voice. Alya may be tired but I knew she was thrilled about her visitor.

"Well," Nino whispered and paused, waiting for Miss Bustier to turn back around, "I'm glad she's okay but I hope she gets back soon. Can't have you apologizing for every little thing Chloé throws a fit over." I smiled at him. I knew he was really only missing Alya. They are so cute together, I could perish sometimes.

Alya came in after first period like she promised, ambushing me at the lockers. She looked exhausted but the bone crushing hug she gave me let me know it was worth it to her. I listen to her gush over Ladybug and thank me over and over. My ego was still being stroked on both of my identities when Adrien showed up out of nowhere, almost giving me another heart attack. _We need to get that boy a bell,_ I mused.

"Good to see you, Alya! I heard you have something new going on with the Ladyblog…" _He was listening to me and Nino,_ "and I just wanted to ask for a spoiler or two if you have time?" He seemed a bit self-conscious as he scratched the back of his neck, but I couldn't really observe much more because he casually gave me a wink which nearly killed me then and there.

"All I can say is that it's going to blow your mind. Well, maybe that's not all I can say. This stays between us, okay?" Adrien opened his mouth to reply but Alya cut him off excitedly, "Marinette got me an interview with Ladybug last night! Can you believe it? Ladybug, at MY HOUSE!"

I grabbed her arm and motioned to the busy hallway. More than a few eyes looked our way after her outburst. Alya would be furious if she was the one to leak her own story.

"Thanks, girl. Sorry, I'm just kinda super freaking excited. I stayed up most of the night editing the video and making it perfect. I have it set to post at lunch today, when the blog is most active. She even took selfies with me, Adrien. SELFIES, MARINETTE," she grabbed my shoulders and I couldn't help but laugh at her antics. Adrien left with a wave and a (heavenly) chuckle as I tried to calm Alya down again.

The video was a huge success, the most viewed in the blog's history. Alya was the only journalist to have not only one but two exclusive interviews with Paris's masked heroine. Everyone came up to ask her about it, and because Alya is Alya, she told them all that I was the one to set up the meeting, even though I told her to keep it discreet.

"Marinette," she said in that child-you-know-nothing tone of hers, "Take credit where it's due! You deserve it. I couldn't put your name on the video credits. Ladybug told me it might make you a target for Hawk Moth. Since I can't do that, the least you can let me do is let everyone here know."

"What if one of them is Hawk Moth, or related to Hawk Moth? Hmmm?" I didn't believe it, but anything was worth a try. It wasn't a good thing to have everyone was associating me with Ladybug.

"Oh yeah, you're absolutely right. Yep, Rose is totally the evil Hawk Moth. She's sure to take you hostage as soon as she gets done doodling kittens on her notebook," came her smart reply. I gave up, realizing that it was useless to argue with the hard headed girl.

JOURNAL, YOU AREN'T GONNA BELIEVE WHAT I'M ABOUT TO WRITE ON YOU. Okay, I thought I was done writing for today but I'm SOOO not.

Okay, so I just finished writing about Alya telling everyone I set up the Ladybug interview when I heard a tap on my window. It was freaking Chat Noir! He was hanging upside down by his tail from my balcony. I screamed yelled at him to stop being insane and get on my flipping balcony. The crazy cat snickered then did as I said.

My first thought was _He saw the interview and somehow figured out it was me. I must have let something slip. How could I be so stupid?_ But as soon as I opened the skylight above my bed to let him in, my fears vanished. His face held no secret knowledge (or much knowledge of any kind, for that matter), as he smugly flopped on my bed. He started to say some kind of innuendo but I just rolled my eyes and tuned him out, walking back down to my flat. Chat followed, swinging his tail.

"Nice to see you again, Princess," he drawled, his voice dripping with self-satisfaction. He literally started flexing his arms in the middle of the room. Like flexing for no reason. Who even does that? I had to hold back another eye-roll. It couldn't be good for my vision to be constantly doing that.

"To what do I owe the honor, my feline friend?" I sat back down in the computer chair and went to put my journal (you) up. That was a mistake as the Chat immediately yanked it (you? I'm going to say it for now, sorry) out of my hand.

"Oh, I just came to say hello and HELLO, what's this, huh? A diary?" he jumped out of my range as I reached for it. Anxiety filled my chest but I calmed down when he made no move to open it. Chat Noir might be a tease but he respects privacy. _Well, at least I know he respects Ladybug's,_ I thought as I tried to act cool.

"It's my journal. Notice what I said there. ' **My** journal.' Not 'Chat Noir's Cat Toy'," I got up and pulled it from his hand, "Haven't you ever heard? Curiosity killed the cat."

I went to put it up again and he had the nerve reach over me and take it once more. Chat did a stupid one armed back flip and sat himself on top of my desk. Completely unnecessary (albeit cool).

"And what's the rest again? Oh yeah, and 'satisfaction brought him back'," I moved toward him, concern written all over my face but he stopped me, holding up a gloved hand, "Don't worry, I won't read it without your permission. That would be purr-ty rude of me, don't you think?" Chat sat my journal (you) back in its box and gently closed the lid.

"Thank you, Chat," I said with a sigh of relief. I sank down into my desk chair and closed my eyes in as I relaxed. I felt Chat's presence to my left but I didn't open my eyes.

"Princess, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I won't mess around like that again. I swear on all nine of my lives," I opened my eyes to find him kneeling before me with a clawed hand over his heart.

"Kitty, I don't think you have nine lives anymore. Not after all the stunts you pull fighting akumas. You have like five, maybe. I'll take a few of them myself if you ever touch my journal again," I couldn't help but smile at the trouble maker as he put on the dramatics, acting like I had mortally wounded him with my words.

"Marinette, who knew you could say such things? How does something so cruel come out of something so sweet? I think you have taken one life with that sentence alone," the black clad boy flung himself on my floor and threw his arm over his masked eyes like a lady on a soap opera.

"Serves you right, alley cat. Now tell me why you decided to drop by. Not that I don't just love our little chats," I tossed in that last part just to get a rise out of him. It worked immediately. He bolted up and stared at me, opened mouth in shock. It didn't last long. Chat recovered quickly and his signature grin spread out over his face.

"Can't a prince check up on his princess without being questioned?" I shot him a look and he went on, seeing that I wasn't falling for it, "Alright, alright. I heard from a little bird that you had talked my lady into giving an interview." _Ahh, so this is about Ladybug. But wait, if Chat heard about that, then that means he could go to my school! Or at least, he knows someone who goes to my school._

"Go on," I tried to play it off like it was no big deal as I swiveled around in my chair and started stacking up papers.

"Well, I just wanted to let you know that I'd be happy to do an interview too," I swung back around quickly, completely floored.

"What? Why would you do that? I mean, what brought this on?"

"Well, for starters, my lady trusts this Alya so I do too. Next, it looks like fun and I feel like it. Finally, I want to do it as a favor to you, my favorite princess," he put a clawed finger under my chin as if to punctuate the last sentence. I pretended to snap at his finger with my teeth which Chat found hilarious. I was only half joking though. The way he said, 'favorite princess' irked me for some reason.

"Next time I'll bit it off. Don't want a trip to the vet, do we? Anyway, I'm sure you say that to all your princesses." Chat's laugh stopped short and his face looked confused.

"All my princesses? You are the only one, Mari. I didn't mean for you to think otherwise," his voice was serious for a change, which caught me off guard. He ended the cute moment when he jokingly remarked, "Didn't mean to make you jealous."

I scoffed but couldn't stop my smirk, "Don't flatter yourself. Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Yes, I can set up an interview. Tell me what time is good for you. Alya will be ecstatic."

"How about tomorrow night around nine-ish? I have to patrol with Ladybug, but after that I'm free." He was leaning against my desk when his ring let out a beep. _Looks like we need to hurry up._

"That sounds good. Do you want me to give you Alya's address?" Chat was climbing up to my bed loft as I called after him. He turned his head over his shoulder as he answered me.

"No need. Uh, I mean, I'll just ask Ladybug to show me," the black clad boy made to leave but I called out to him again.

"Oh Chat, don't tell her you came to me to set this up. Act like you just wanted to or it was Ladybug's idea. I love Alya but she doesn't understand that not everyone wants the attention that comes with dealing with superheroes. You'd be doing me another favor if you kept this low-key." Chat looked a little surprised but he nodded and grinned. He was out the sky light when I yelled at him again. _Wow, I'm coming off a little clingy but I can't help it. This must be how Chat feels around Ladybug. No, I mean, not like_ _ **that**_ _but whatever!_

"Chat!" he stuck his head back through the trap door with a bemused expression, "I just wanted you to know that I might be your only princess but you're not my only kitty." He was about to say something in retort but his ring beeped again.

"This is not over, Princess," and with that he disappeared. I don't know about you, Journal, but I think I won this round.


	3. My Ex-crush

My Ex-crush

Journal, I'm so tired but I'm going to write anyway. It's only because I love you. Also, if I sleep as hard as I think I will, there's no way I'll remember much of tonight. If I sleep as hard as I want to, I might not ever wake up. That sounded bad, but I'm too exhausted to care.

School was blah. Nothing extraordinary happened besides Nathan helping me with a design I was struggling with at lunch. It was sweet. I think he's over the akuma thing and his little crush on me. He didn't really do anything but ask me questions about what I wanted from the design. For some reason, when he asked me, I was able to think of the solutions.

By the end of lunch, my new dress design was exactly how I wanted it. I was so excited, I gave Nathan a big hug. I didn't even think about how awkward that might be for him until I pulled back. Nathan seemed pretty cool about it though. He even offered to help me some more with my designs! I can't really remember what he said but it was something like this:

"You already know how to fix things, Marinette. You just need someone to ask the right questions." That stuck with me all day. I think that's a pretty accurate description of how I work with Chat. He helps me find the answers by asking me how to solve the problem. Does that make sense? I'm telling you, I'm just worn-out.

The school day went pretty fast after that. Before I knew it, it was time to patrol with Chat. The night air was cool but not enough to be chilly. I enjoyed the breeze as I waited for Chat at our usual meeting rooftop. I was lost in my thoughts when he arrived. The silly kitty was obviously in a bad mood. I didn't want to pry but his sour attitude was starting to grate on my nerves as we walked the rooftops of Paris in silence.

"What's on the brain cell, Chat?" I used my most playful tone. My partner looked like I startled him from some pretty deep thoughts (so unlike him).

"My lady, it's nothing; a personal life problem," he said with a impressive sigh.

"Oh, I see," I was going to let the matter drop as we jumped to our next lookout point. That was until Chat let out another theatrical sigh.

"Do you remember that girl, Marinette?" my heart stopped at his seemingly innocent question. _Does he know?_

"Marinette? You mean, the blogger girl's friend?" I tried to keep my voice detached.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me! I told her I would do an interview with the blogger tonight. That cool with you?"

"It doesn't matter to me. I trust that Alya girl. Her friend seems nice too. What were you saying about her?" We had arrived at the Eiffel Tower. Chat was sitting casually on the rail, staring off into the distance like he was contemplating the world.

"She is nice, my lady. She really is," he said in a far away tone, "You remember how she got snatched by the Evillustrator that time?"

"Yes, I think so. But we fight a lot of akumas, Chat."

"Well, today, I saw her talking to the boy who was akumatized," his voice was grave, like this was a crime. _Well, either Chat goes to my school or he spies on me. I'm just going to assume the former._

"That's a bad thing?" I tried and failed to keep the defensiveness from my voice. Chat didn't seem to notice though, as he hoisted himself up and began balancing on the rail, swinging his tail.

"She hugged him, Ladybug. HUGGED HIM! This is the kid who freaking kidnapped her!" He began walking faster back and forth on the rail. I don't know what you would call it. Extreme balance pacing?

"Maybe they're just friends? A hug doesn't mean they're getting married, Chaton. Besides, Marinette seems really pleasant and friendly. I could see her forgiving the boy for what he did while possessed."

"Yeah, but hugs lead to longer hugs. That leads to holding FREAKIN' hands. Then he's gonna want to kiss her and feel her up and…" he was pacing really fast and it was kinda scary.

"Chat, you're being such a spaz," I couldn't help but giggle. That stopped his pacing and he looked at me with an offended expression. How could I not laugh? He let out a disappointed huff but then he gave me a small smirk.

"Maybe so. But it bothers me that Mari can just forgive him so easily," his tone was serious (really, this is NOT my Chat).

"You should talk to her about it," I don't know why I suggested that. The last thing I need is for Chat to be getting close with my civilian personality.

"I don't want to seem jealous," he mumbled.

"Well, you are jealous. Not to mention you're a terrible actor. I don't think you're going to fool her anyway. Marinette isn't dumb."

"Me-ouch! My acting skills are su-purr-b! And I am not jealous of _Nathan,_ " The venom in his voice as he said the boys name said otherwise. I shot him an exasperated look.

"If you say so, kitty. We should be heading home now and you have an interview. Do you need the address?" I asked as I made to leave the tower.

"No, I can find where she lives," he said in a sulky tone. _That's weird. I guess if he is in my class though, he could know where Alya lives._

"My lady," He called as I made to swing my yo-yo out into the night, "Thanks for the advice. I'll talk to Marinette about it. I was going to see her tomorrow night anyway. Night, night, partner," he jumped off the tower, into the dark. I rolled my eyes at his dramatics.

"Night, night, Chaton," I said to the empty air.

As I sit here, writing all this, I feel as if my bones are coated in some kind of heavy steal. I feel so heavy and tired. I have no idea why I encouraged Chat to visit me. Strangely enough, I don't think I would change anything if I could. Journal, I'm so confused.

UPDATE: I just got off the phone with Alya. It's 12:09 a.m. and I want to murder that cat. Apparently, he let Alya know that I sent him! Well, Alya figured it out because she said he asked what I thought about him? Journal, I can't wait to tell him EXACTLY what I think about him.


	4. Someone I don't talk to as much I want

Author's Note: Last Chapter, the lovely Vm asked me a very good question about the chapter title, "My Ex-Crush." I'm sorry, my computer wouldn't let me pm you for some reason. To answer your question, the title refers to Nathan as Marinette's ex-crush as in someone who used to crush on her. I know that doesn't really make sense but it was all I could think of to go with the prompt which was "Your ex-boyfriend/girlfriend/crush." The reader can also take it as a reference to Ladybug's and Chat's dynamic, as we see in that chapter. That is, if the reader wanted to make me seem smarter than I really was. Hope that answers your question!

I got some of my cat puns were borrowed from post/72332709432/cat-puns

I got the idea of a skinny/dieting Adrien from a post/comic strip I saw on tumblr but I can't find it now! If you know it, please send me the link.

Someone I don't talk to as much as I want to

Let me just tell you what's up, Journal. Today was so… so…I don't know! Maybe if I write it down, it'll make more sense?

So this morning started out pretty great. My mom and dad accidently made double the number of cookies a customer ordered so I got to take the extras to school. Everyone in the class loved them (except Chloé and her little minion, of course). Adrien really acted like he enjoyed them, moaning about how amazing chocolate was. Normally, I would have exploded in happiness but that didn't happen today.

Don't get me wrong, I was super glad that he liked them. It's just, I heard him mumble something about how Natalie would never let him have anything like cookies because of his 'modeling diet.' Maybe it's the fact I come from a family of carb creators, but that rubbed me the wrong way. I hate it, actually. He's only fifteen and he can't even HAVE COOKIES?!

Ugh. So that was on my mind most of the day. Alya could tell something was up and she didn't press. She just knows when not to push, somehow. I guess it's just her magic best friend powers. She barely bothered me about the Chat Noir thing. She didn't mention my name at all when people came up to talk to her about the interview. How did I get so lucky to have a friend like her?

Nathan came up to me after lunch and asked if I wanted to work on some sketches after school. I told him I would love to but I had a lot of chores to do at the bakery. It wasn't exactly a lie but it wasn't the whole truth. There is always something to do at the bakery but nothing that I absolutely had to do. Am I a bad person? Let me just give you my reasons.

First, I could feel a headache coming on. With that plus my exhaustion, I didn't think I would be much fun to hang out with. The second thing is, I kept looking at Adrien and how skinny he was. How had I never seen it before? It kind of ruined my mood. The third thing is… I can't believe I'm writing this. Ugh… the third thing is, I was keeping my afternoon open for Chat to visit. Only to yell at him, of course.

Nathan looked a bit disappointed but not 'akuma' disappointed. I told him I should be free tomorrow and his eyes lit up. I spent the rest of the day trying not to notice how thin Adrien's wrists were or how his cheekbones were almost too defined. I know that it's none of my business but who does that to their child? Gabriel Agreste might be a god among designers but he doesn't seem like a very good dad from where I sit.

As soon as I walked in the bakery doors, a wave of nausea hit me. I tried to help mom with some croissants but she sent me straight to my room.

"You look pale as a ghost, baby. Go lie down and rest." I tried to argue with her but she would have none of it.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng," she said in the mom voice (you know what I mean),"Go to your room and lie down before I carry you up there. Besides, do you really want to infect all our customers?" She said the last sentence in a whisper but I thought I saw a few of the patrons sitting close to us look at me accusingly. That was that.

The headache came full force as I climbed the stairs. I abandoned my backpack and the homework beside my desk, lying down on the futon. Tikki was worse than mom, fluttering around my head with worry. She kept insisting I skip school for the next few days, to make sure I could heal as fast as possible.

"Tikki, it's probably only a cold or some bug. Don't worry, I'll be back to normal soon enough," I said in what I will admit was a very weak voice. My head was pounding and the simple action of moving my jaw muscles sent throbbing pain through my skull.

"Asking me not to worry about you is like asking Chat to stop with his puns. It might make your life a little more comfortable, but it's just not going to happen, Sweetheart. I'm not going to argue with you right now, because you need to rest. But you should think about how horrible fighting akumas would be if you wanted to throw up the whole time."

I was going to reply but I felt my lunch coming up when my head decided to give me a particularly nasty pound. All I could manage was a small nod before closing my eyes. I fell into a near-comatose state. It was exactly what I needed.

I awoke to an insistent tapping noise. _Chat._ Not what I needed. The knocking continued and I groaned, forcing my stiff limbs up from the soft futon. He let himself in when he saw me through the window. I was too terrible feeling to care.

"Woah, Princess, are you okay? Maybe you should sit down?" Chat grabbed my elbow and led me back to the futon. His voice was so innocent and worried, I felt myself letting go of my irritation, unwillingly of course.

"I'm doing great, Kitty," I grimaced at my raspy voice. Clearing my throat, I continued, "You might not be when I get done with you, though." The threat was lost a bit I collapsed on the futon, rather ungracefully.

"You can spank me for whatever I did later, Marinette. Can I feel your head?" he didn't wait for my permission as he pressed a cold, clawed hand on my forehead. I'll admit, it felt nice. _Maybe I do have a fever._

"Marinette, I can freaking feel your fever through my glove! You're burning up, and not in a good way!" his loud voice sent a throb of pain in my head.

"Not so loud, please. And could you stop flirting for a minute. I don't have the energy to brush you off right now, "I mumbled as I pulled my quilt over my shoulders.

"Sorry, Princess. You know, you could always just accept my attentions and save energy…" he said softly as he adjusted my covers. _I wish he would stop being so nice. I'm supposed to mad at him!_

"Well, you could have listened to me when I asked you not to spill the beans to Alya. She's convinced we're a thing now," I wanted to look cross but my glare only made my head hurt worse.

"We're not?" he teased. I couldn't help but laugh at his dumfounded expression. It was so over the top.

"Stop, it hurts to laugh. Ugh, I can't even be cross with you, alley cat," I went to shove him but it felt embarrassingly weak. His eyes softened at my pathetic-ness.

"I really didn't mean to out you to Alya. It just slipped out. You know that girl. She's a shark for information," he brushed my bangs from my sweaty forehead (yum).

"I heard you asked her what I, and I'm quoting her here, what I 'thought of you.' That doesn't sound like something that just slips out, Chat Noir. Care to explain?" my voice was stronger, having warmed up a bit. I felt a surge of triumph as his eyes widened in surprise.

"Umm, no comment," he said, plopping down on the floor beside my futon, seeming unaffected.

"What?" I asked incredulously, sitting up on my elbow to look at him.

"I said 'no comment.'" Chat began picking at my rug with his little claws.

"This isn't Alya you're talking to, you bad cat!" I glared and it was worth every bit of the pain.

"It sure feels like it," he chuckled, scratching the back of his head. The action looked so familiar but I couldn't place it. I noticed his wrist. They were so thin, just like Adrien's. I felt a pang in my heart as I remembered the events of that morning.

"Have I upset you, Marinette?" Chat said in a concerned voice as he leaned forward, looking me in the eye. His gentle tone and bright green eyes filled with worried disarmed me completely.

"No, no. It's just, I'm just worried about this boy in my class," I confided. Chat Noir seemed relieved that I wasn't upset with him but he didn't look exactly happy when I mentioned another boy.

"Tell me about it. Is he bothering you? You know I will show my claws for you anytime," I could tell he was only half joking.

"No, it's not that. It's just… well, it's silly," I felt myself blushing a bit. If Chat really did go to my school, he could know Adrien, maybe even be his friend. Admitting that I had noticed Adrien's eating habits would be admitting that I noticed Adrien.

"Please, tell me, Marinette," his voice was uncharacteristically serious as he grabbed my hand under the covers, "Is it that boy who was akumatized? That Nathan boy? I can tell him to leave you alone if you want." I was too stunned to pull my hand out of his immediately.

"What? No, Nathan is fine. Why would you…" I suddenly remembered our rooftop conversation from the night before and felt like an idiot. I had thought Chat was just being dramatic to get Ladybug's attention.

"Never mind," I said, finally pulling my hand from his, "Nathan is fine. I actually think he's over the whole 'crush' thing which is great. I thought he would hate me after the incident but he's doesn't. I think we might even be friends," I was killing two birds with one stone; clearing up the Nathan issue and avoiding the Adrien one.

"And why would he hate you? He kidnapped **you** , Marinette. None of that was your fault. If anyone, it was his and Chloé's fault," Chat sounded irritated but I knew it wasn't directed at me.

"It was Hawk Moth's fault. He took Nathan's pain and used it. He is the only one to blame," _Well, Chloé is no angel but at least she doesn't purposefully make akumas. Well, I don't think she does. File under Bourgeois Conspiracy Theories._

Chat stood up and stretched his legs. He didn't seem like he was getting ready to leave, only taking a chance to look around. I mentally thanked my lucky stars that I had taken down my Adrien wall art after his visit on Alya's birthday. No need to paste my insanity on the walls. It was much better to keep in stuffed in my desk drawer.

"You're right. It's all on Hawk Moth. But your real problem, I bet that isn't. Tell me about this boy that you're worried about it," he gaze was distracted, flipping through my design book, but his voice was not. _It's weird; I don't feel embarrassed for him to be looking at my work like I usually am. I guess it's because I trust him. That or I don't value his fashion opinion_.

"You're exasperatingly persistent. Well, it's this boy who..." he began tsking me as he held my sketchbook. For a minute, I thought he was judging my work and my heart skipped a beat. _Guess I do care._

"Give me a name, Princess."

"What?"

"What's the boy's name? These are amazing, by the way. I knew you were good but that is some professional stuff right ther," he said as he sat my design book down.

"Thank you. I don't know about it being 'professional' though. Anyway, his name doesn't matter,"

"First off, trust me, I know my stuff. You are definitely skilled. Second off, it matters to me," Chat gave me look that was 100% stubbornness and I gave up. My headache was gone but I still was drained.

"Adrien Agreste," I sighed, defeated.

"What?" Chat whispered, shocked. His eyes were huge green saucers.

"The boy I'm worried about is Adrien Agreste," I felt the confusion on my face. _Chat must know Adrien then. I hope it's not personally. Maybe he just saw him around the city on billboards and stuff. Yeah, let's go with that. Even if Chat is friends with Adrien, he probably (hopefully) won't mention this._

"Isn't he the boy model I had to save that time? What's wrong with him?" he was trying to sound disinterested but I could see it was an act. It was hard to say why he cared but I could see that he really did.

"He's not just some boy model. He's my friend. Nothing's wrong with him. I just noticed for the first time today how… how **thin** he is," I felt like I was betraying Adrien, confiding this in Chat.

"Well, he is a model. Is that a bad thing? Is he too skinny?" Chat sounded a little wounded and he sat in my desk chair. Maybe he was feeling defensive because he was a bit on the skinny side. It was hard to see in the black suit, but he really was just as bad as Adrien. _Why do I keep fixating on boy's weights?_

"No, but I heard him talking about being put on a diet today and it bothered me. He may be a model but he's still a growing boy. He should be able to eat all the cookies, he wants Chat!" I sat up in bed in anger. I felt dizziness come over me and I sank back down. Chat was at my side in a flash, palming my forehead again.

"And you could put on some weight too, Chat. You are a freaking super hero! Eat a doughnut!" I tried to sit up but he pushed me back down.

"Princess, you should rest. I'm sorry I keep agitating you," his voice was sweet and I felt myself leaning into his hand that he moved to my cheek. _Must be the fever killing my brain cells. His hand feels so cool though._

"I'll be okay, Kitty. Thanks," I mumbled, suddenly tired. Maybe I wore myself out talking.

"I think it's really nice of you to worry about Adrien. Maybe you should bake him some cookies or invite him to the bakery. I'm sure he would appreciate it," he said in kind tone as he ran his claws through my sticky bangs. I don't know why I let him do that. No, I do know why. It was because it felt so good and the rest of me felt so bad.

"Good advice, Chat. I might just do that," I murmured, closing my eyes against his touch.

"Marinette?" he started. I opened one eye in irritation. He chuckled and flicked my nose.

"You remember last time, when you said I wasn't your only kitty? Who's your other kitty?" his smile was teasing but it didn't quite reach his eyes. It took me a moment to remember what he was talking about. Sleep was trying to take me.

"Oh, that! I was talking about Mr. Sparkle-Butt!" I said with a snort.

"Sparkle what?" Chat looked taken aback.

"Sparkle-Butt. Mr. Sparkle Butt actually. We were married. I guess we technically still are, actually. No, I guess my babysitter wasn't ordained so…"

"Princess, how bad is your fever?" I laughed at his alarm as he checked my head again.

"Go look on my bed," the super hero did as he was told, reluctantly. He came back with a small black stuffed cat with a bedazzled green heart on his back end.

"This is Sparkle-Butt?" he held up the stuffed toy in disdain. It was a well loved toy of mine. I'll admit, he had seen better days. His little left ear was barely hanging on.

"Mr. Sparkle-Butt and yes. I've had him since I was six. Bedazzled his bottom myself," I didn't hide my pride.

"Nice touch, Princess. As a man of feline nature, I can tell you that I would personally love a shiny, green heart right on my…" His ring beeped right as he was gesturing to his rear end with my favorite stuffed animal. He threw Mr. Sparkle-Butt on me and leapt unto my bed flat.

"You got to be **kitten** me! Already? Sorry, Princess. You know I would **purr-sonally paw-fur** to stay all night but **un-fur-tunately,** I must bid you adieu," he said all this while opening the window. I groaned and threw the stuffed cat at him.

"Aww, Chat, you were doing so well at not being puny! And you just went and ruined it!" I threw my head back on the futon pillow, closing my eyes. Chat snickered.

"You know you love it. Puns are the **purr-est** form of comedy."

"I think you mean torture." His ring beeped again, this time more urgently.

"Bye, my Princess. Get better soon. I need you at full health so you can appreciate my wit and charm."

"Bye, Chat or should I say, my **Purr-ince** ," his jaw dropped open and I burst into laughter. He climbed out of my room, like a shocked little mechanical toy cat.

Journal, snot is pouring out my nose as I write this but I just had to get it all down. Chat really pulled through for me today. I can't believe I'm saying this but I really had fun with him, even though I felt miserable. Maybe Chat being friends with my civilian self isn't so bad. When I'm Ladybug, I feel like I can't play around too much. The silly cat gets distracted enough as it is. I wouldn't mind talking to him more as Marinette, where I can be as ridiculous as I want.


	5. Someone that's not in my Country

Author's note: This chapter isn't my favorite but it's DONE. It's a little on the long side. I got myself in a plot hole and had to dig myself out. I would like to dedicate this chapter to LilyTheNinjaGirl who's sweet comments gave me the boost I need to get this one out. Thank you, not only to Lily but to everyone who has read or reviewed. Ya'll make writing that much more fun 3

Someone that's not in my Country

Hey there, Journal. I'm trying to write in you but Chat is currently being a VERY OBNOXIOUS AND NOSY LITTLE TURD. STOP IT, CHAT! YOU SAID I COULD WRITE IN PEACE. Ugh, I give up. I'll try again after this DEMONIC CAT LEAVES ME ALONE.

 _Hi I'm Marinette and I think Chat is amazing & purr-fect & gr _

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

I just kicked Chat out of my room. I may or may not have threatened to spade him after he took you and started FREAKIN' WRITING IN YOU. Journal, was that too harsh? Don't care. I don't know why I thought I could write in you with that nosy cat in the room. Before I tell you about that experience, let me tell you about the crazy stuff that happened before.

So this morning, I called Alya to tell her I wouldn't be coming to school. I felt better but I still had a low grade fever. The slight head ache and nausea I felt upon waking up wasn't enough to keep me from working on designs in my room but I knew I would have to get in touch with Chat about patrol. I didn't need him stressing over Ladybug not showing up.

As you can imagine, this was tricky. I couldn't tell him that I (Ladybug) was sick. The cat might be dense but he isn't that dense. He could very well put to and to together. I mean, I could just imagine his thought process. Let me show you:

 _Hmmm, that's weird. My lady gets sick right at the same time as my princess…_

 _Hope I'm not spreading some disease. Haha, who am I_ _ **kitt-ing?**_ _The only disease I have is the disease of_ _ **purr-fection. (several bad puns later).**_ _You know, my lady and Marinette sure do look alike too. And they're sick at the same time…Wait a minute…_

 ** _END SCENE_**

Okay, maybe that was a little harsh of a characterization. What can I say; I'm mean when I'm sick. Not to mention, I ramble. What was I talking about? Oh yeah, telling Chat I couldn't make it to patrol.

I told him it was a family problem and I couldn't make it. I tried to hide the hoarseness of my voice with some honey tea before the call. It must have worked because he didn't seem to notice. He took it pretty well. I was relieved that I didn't have to worry about getting out of the house at all. Still, I felt bad for being untruthful to my partner.

To ease my conscience about lying to Chat, I decided to take care of an actual family problem I had been avoiding: emailing Uncle Wang. Well, I guess he's actually my great uncle but that just sounds a bit stuffy. I reluctantly sat down at my desk and began the email I had been putting off for three days.

It's not that I don't enjoy talking to my uncle and getting to know him. I really do. It's just that I have such a hard time writing in Chinese. And guess what! It was my bright idea that I practice my Chinese and he practice his French through these letters. Everyone says that writing comes first when learning a new language. Then comes reading and speaking. Uncle has improved a lot but I don't feel like I'm getting much better. He says I am but he might just be being nice.

Alya says I should get Adrien to teach me which is ridiculous. I can barely talk to him in my native tongue! How am I supposed to pull off Chinese? I was half-way through my letter when mom called up that I had company. Looking at my computer's clock, I saw that school had let out a while ago. I had been working on the email for two whole hours! Saving my progress, I decided to take a break and hang out with Alya. I deserved it.

It wasn't Alya who came up to my room. It wasn't Alya who saw me in pink pajamas dotted with glittery tiaras (I know, very mature. Such class). It wasn't Alya who saw me with bags under my eyes and snot in my nose. It was Adrien Agreste.

He looked like the sun as he climbed up through my door. I was internally screaming at the horror of Adrien seeing me in such a state. At least I had taken a shower. Still, I felt super embarrassed and shocked. So much in fact that I didn't even hear what he was saying to me.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" came my squeaky voice. He was looking at me like he was expecting a response. I noticed for the first time he held a small plastic container in his hands. He laughed (like an angel) at my confused tone.

"I said, I hope I'm not bothering you. Alya said you weren't feeling well, so I thought I'd stop by and give you some soup. You know, because soup is what ill people eat and…" he was scratching the back of his head and he walked toward me. He sat the bowl on my desk and continued, "Don't worry, I didn't make it. It's from a café so it's safe."

I laughed weakly and tried to make my lips form words. They refused and stayed in a stupid little smile against my will. Adrien leaned over my shoulder and saw the email. (It wasn't as irritating as when Chat did it but I still felt uncomfortable with him reading it.)

"Oh, you're writing a letter to your uncle?" he asked, leaning in closer. I was thankful for my sickly parlor. It made my blush look like normal flush. I nodded to his question and shifted in my desk seat.

"Sorry, I guess I'm being nosy," he backed up. I had to pull myself together. Adrien was being so nice and I was just sitting there, not saying a word.

"N-no, no, you're fine, I mean, it's okay. Soup for the thanks. What? I mean, thanks for the soup! That was very thoughtful," I mentally clapped myself on the back. _That wasn't so bad. It wasn't good but it wasn't my worst._

"Ah, it was nothing. You are always being so thoughtful of others, it was the least I could do," he gave me a smile so big, his eyes squinted. My heart exploded. A moment passed before I could regain partial function of my brain and remember my manners.

"Please, sit down," I said, without stuttering. _Ten points to Marinette._

"Thanks. I hope I'm not interrupting your writing…" he said as he plopped down on my futon.

"No, well, you did but I needed a break. It's slow work," _Twenty points_.

"Maybe I could lend a hand?" he tilted his head to the side in a cat like way. It reminded me of Chat.

"Th-thank you but that wouldn't help me learn much," I couldn't believe it. I just turned Adrien Agreste down. Really, I would die if he saw how horrible I was at Chinese.

"Ah, I see. Maybe I could help you with that some time? Learning I mean. It could be fuuuuun," he said the last part in a sing song voice. I felt myself relax at his playfulness. Again, I was reminded of my kitty-cat. _Chat has infected my brain. I need a vaccination or something._

"Maybe we could… Hey, I thought today was the Little Red Bug concert. Weren't you, Alya, and Nino all going to that?" _Fifty points to Miss. Dupain-Cheng._ Little Red Bug is a local bad on the rise. Their music totally has that Jagged Stone edge with an Indie twist. Most of their songs are Ladybug or Chat Noir themed. I feel a little narcissistic listening to them, actually.

Anyway, I knew Nino, Alya, and Adrien had been looking forward to going all week. I wouldn't have minded going myself but tickets weren't exactly cheap. I couldn't ask my parents for that amount of money, just to see a band. You see, we're not poor but the bakery doesn't exactly rake in the dough, pun intended. I just told them that I had too much work to do to go to the concert. I think Alya knows the truth but she loves me enough to hide it.

"Oh, Nino and Alya went," Adrien said as he began toying with Mr. Sparkle Butt, "Alya wanted to ditch it to go check on you but I convinced her to go when I told her I was coming. I've seen them so many times, I didn't really feel like going again," he said it offhandedly but I felt a stab of guilt. Also I tasted a tiny bit of jealousy. I had only seen Little Red Bug once and that was when they opened for Jagged Stone (I only get to see him because he lets me into all his concerts for free. He's a little leather clad angel).

"You didn't have to do that, Adrien. I feel bad…"

"Don't. I wanted to do it. You're always doing for others; making cookies, saying nice things… You know and yeah," he seemed a bit embarrassed and his cheeks were a dusty pink.

"Thank you," I managed to say. I couldn't help but stare at his hands as he picked at my stuffed cat. His fingers were so **thin**. I remembered the conversation I had with Chat the night before.

"Speaking of cookies," I said, getting bravery from my concern for this boy, "You should get some from the bakery. On the house, yeah?" _One thousand points over here, thank you._

"Oh, I couldn't just take them, Marinette," the way he said my name. I die.

"Oh, yes, you could. Call it a down payment for you helping me with my Chinese. Or the very least, it can be a trade for the soup." _Stutter? What stutter? I am a conversation goddess._

"But Marinette.."

"Don't argue with me, Adrien. I'm sick, remember?" I said the last part with a thick pout. Adrien looked surprised at first, and then he broke out in laughter. I did the same. I don't know where my confidence came from. It almost felt as comfortable as talking to Chat Noir.

"Okay, okay, you win. I can hardly turn down the best cookies in all of Paris anyway," he got up, stretching. It was his way of saying he needed to go, I could tell.

"I'll tell the P.U.s you said that," I mentally slapped myself. _Why did I bring that up? He's gonna think I'm an idiot._

"The P.U.s?" his brow furrowing in confusion.

"Oh, sorry. It stands for parental units. Something Alya and I made up. It's silly."

Adrien chuckled and shook his head. In the most polite way, he looked at his watch and said he had to be going. As soon as Natalie heard he wasn't going to the concert, she started adjusting his schedule. Adrien said he barely got free to come see me.

"Thank you for everything, Adrien."

"It was nothing, Pr-provider of cookies," he winced at his words. I cocked my head to the side and smiled at his discomfort.

"Provider of cookies?" Adrien's face was as red as my Ladybug suit. _Talking about food must make him embarrassed or something. How cute._

"Yeah…" he looked dumbfounded. It felt like we had traded places. He was the one having trouble speaking. I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me feel just a wee bit triumphant.

"I like it," I said, leading him downstairs. I made sure he got his cookies and waved him goodbye. It had been wonderful to see him but I felt exhausted as I made my way back up to my room.

Tikki flew out from her perch and I gave her some cookies I snatched from the bakery. She munched on them happily, commenting on Adrien's visit. Normally, I would love to gush with her, but all I could think about was taking a nap. My headache had been steadily getting worse and without Adien's perfect face to distract me, it was hard not to notice it. I decided to finish my email later.

I had been asleep for an hour when Chat arrived. The rude feline didn't even bother knocking. To top it off, instead of waking me like a normal person, he thumped my nose.

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty," he sang obnoxiously. I groaned and rolled over, pulling the quilt over my head.

"Aww, come on, Princess. Do you need a little kiss to break the spell?" That had me jolting up. The bad cat had the nerve to laugh.

"Knew that would work," he chuckled as he walked over to my computer desk chair. He plopped down and started spinning like an adorable little idiot. I decided to let the last comment slide.

"You know, you really should knock. What if my parents had been up here? What if I had been getting dressed?" I grumbled. He stopped spinning with my last sentence and had the decency to look embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, Mari. It won't happen again," his voice was sincere. I had thought he would go with a flirt but he took the high road. _Ten points to Chat._

"Thanks. So what's up with you, Kitty?" I threw my legs over the side of the futon and began combing my messy hair with my hands. It was still a little wet from my late shower and I enjoyed the coolness in my fingers.

"Nothing really. You're the highlight of my day, Princess," he sent me wink from behind his mask. I snorted and rolled my eyes. Still, I couldn't help but smile a bit.

"Well, I'm sure you did more than I have. How was Ladybug today?" This was a dangerous game. I'm not a very good actress, but I don't think Chat noticed. He let out a heavy sigh and did a slow spin in my desk chair.

"Unfortunately, my lady couldn't make it today for personal reasons. Patrol was absolutely dismal. But how was your day?"

"It was pretty nice, actually. Adrien, came by. Isn't that weird? You know, because we were just talking about him. I gave him some cookies. Which reminds me…" I reached under the futon and pulled out a box of cookies I made for Chat. Half of them looked like little black cats and the other half were decorated like Ladybugs. _I really need to stop stealing cookies from the shop. Still, I made these the other day before I got sick. They were fixing to go bad anyway._

"Oh, darling, you shouldn't have!" he exclaimed as he picked up a Ladybug cookie and examined it. His green eyes were alight and his smile was purely Chat.

"Don't mention it," I looked away, suddenly shy. _This is weird._

Before I knew it, Chat had crossed the room and pulled me in a big hug. I was so shocked, I did nothing but sit there.

"Marinette, you are awesome, you know that?" he patted my back and pulled away like nothing had happened. I was still dumbfounded as he strolled back to the other side of the room. The black clad hero leaned over my desk to examine my computer monitor. I had to stop myself from checking out his tail end. _Marinette, you are such a perv, geez._

"Is this Chinese?" he asked. It took a minute for my brain to catch up with his words.

"Uhh, yeah. It's a letter to my Uncle Wang," I said, getting up and walking toward the cat. Chat moved out of my way as I sat down at the desk chair.

"He doesn't live around here?" he leaned over my shoulder. I doubt he could read anything I wrote but it still made me feel ill at ease.

"No, he lives in China. Chat, not to be a whiner but it kind of makes me want to punch people in the throat when they hover like that." He leaned back immediately. I thought I saw a small blush under his mask but it's hard to tell.

"Oh, my bad, sorry," he smiled embarrassed, "Uhh, that's cool you're writing to him in his language. Not everyone would take the time. You must really love him," he observed as he leaned against the edge of the desk.

"Yeah, he's really cool. I've only met him once but it was pretty memorable. You were there. Remember the Kung Food akuma?" Chat nodded.

"That was him. Only in France for a day and he gets targeted by Hawk Moth. Pretty crazy. Anyway, after that, I've tried to stay in touch with him and work on my Chinese. He's writes to me in French so we both learn a lot. The only downside is that it takes me forever to figure out my emails," I began typing as I said it. My letter was mostly done. I just had the last few closing sentences which were pretty much the same for every email.

"I got you. Is there no one to help you?" his voice was strange. I wondered if I was boring him but as I glanced up at his face, I saw it was full of interest.

"Funny you should say that. Adrien offered to help me today," I said as I typed the last line and pressed send, not even bothering to proof read. Uncle would forgive any mistakes. I had mentioned I was not feeling well so maybe he could blame it on that.

"Are you going to let him?" his voice was guarded. _Was my Chaton jealous?_ I turned off my computer and turned fully to face him.

"I'm not sure yet," I tried to come off as disinterested but I don't think I pulled it off.

"Why not?" he almost sounded offended. What was up with this crazy cat?

"Adrien is a very busy boy. I don't want to waste his time."

"Well, I doubt he would have offered if he didn't want to, Princess." Why was Chat being so persistent? _Or should I say_ _ **purr-sistent?**_ _Oh my gosh, did I really just think that?_

"I don't know. He might have just been being nice. Anyway, I couldn't pay him for tutoring. Not to mention, he would see how horrendous my Chinese is," I leaned over Chat to get my journal. It was more to have something to distract myself.

"For starters, he's got a rich designer dad and a good paying job. He would be a dirty word if he took your money. Secondly, if you were perfect in Chinese, you wouldn't need any help. Duh."

"I'll think about it," I sighed in defeat, "Will you let me write for a bit or would that be rude?" Chat gave me the okay and I opened my journal (you). As soon as I started to write, I knew it wouldn't work. Like I said before; Mistake. Chat didn't lean over my shoulder but I could definitely feel his eyes on the pages. It wasn't until I started calling him out via very big, angry word that he grabbed my pen and journal. He got in about half a sentence before I had to resort to violence and threats of worse violence.

I think you're all caught up now, Journal. I'm going to hit the hay now. Night-Night3


	6. A deceased person Part 1

Author's Note: I decided to break this chapter into two parts because it was soooo long. Chapter seven will be a continuation of this journal entry, on the same day. Love ya'll! Thanks for reading!

A deceased person I wish I could talk to Part 1

It's been a long day, Journal. An amazing, exasperatingly long day. We had the Mother of all akumas. Literally. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start at the beginning and relieve all the horror, yes? That sounds like a good time.

I woke up earlier than normal, feeling fresh and fabulous. My illness had crept away sometime in the night. Besides a little aching in my muscles, I felt ready to face the day, fists flying. Mom really didn't want me to go to school but I had to. I dreaded the make-up work I had to face already. Every day I let it pile up added another load on my mountain of anxiety.

As soon as I got to my locker, I was ambushed by Alya. She pulled me into one of her spine crushing hugs and nearly made me deaf with her excited squeals. Over her shoulder, I mouthed 'help me' to Nino who only snickered. He had a stupid little smile on his face as he looked at Alya. _He's got it bad._

Once Alya finally let go of me, it was like a dam had been broken and all of her words flooded out. I tried to keep up with her, but honestly, I was too tired to catch it all. I'm a bad friend, I know. Here's the main points though.

"Marinette, I'm so sorry I didn't check on you yesterday! Well, I'm not really sorry because if I had gone, Adrien might not have. I figured you would rather be with dream boat," she said in a low voice but not low enough. I'm pretty sure Nino could hear everything but I couldn't make myself care. I'm 99.99% sure Alya has spilled my crazy beans to the DJ. I trust Nino to keep the information to himself, if for no other reason than Alya would liquefy him.

"You really are the best, Alya. But you could have text me before he showed up, you know. I looked like a freaking zombie," I teased. Really, her self-satisfied grin was just too much. I couldn't resist messing with her.

"Oh yeah. I totally should have text you and let you freak out about it," her voice was actually dripping sarcasm. (No really, it was dripping out of her mouth. Swear.) "Nah, brah. You would have had a panic attack or something. And it doesn't matter what you looked like, you were SICK! Adrien gets that. No one looks good while they're sick."

"I bet Adrien does," I mumbled, in mock dejection. I really missed Alya. It felt good to kid her. She was about to say something when Nino strolled up to us with Adrien right behind him. Oddly enough, I didn't feel the normal freak-outs coming. I mean, there were some there, don't get me wrong. I just didn't want to run away from him, like usual.

"Hey, Marinette! We missed you yesterday, especially at the concert. Thanks for keeping Adrien busy for us though. You're the real MVP, putting up with him even though you were sick," Nino said shooting a wink at me. Something about his tone and the tilt of his smile made my 99.99% go up to the full 100. It didn't bother me, so I winked back.

"I missed you guys too," I said thumping his hat bill affectionately, "But you do owe me for babysitting Adrien. I accept checks or cash." I held out my hand expectantly. The three of them looked shocked for a moment, then they burst into laughter. Adrien put his hand over his heart and played the part of an over-the-top grief-stricken actor.

"How could you, Mari? I thought we had something special," he asked, his voice full of fake pain. It reminded me of Chat, the way he carried on.

"You're a terrible actor," I giggled. He acted like I had just called his puppy ugly then punched his grandma.

"Like you can do better," he said in a voice almost as cocky as Chat's. I guess an alien took over my body or something because what I did next surprised everyone, even me.

Slowly, I stepped closer to the fair-haired model, putting on my most serious face. Alya and Nino both stopped laughing and the atmosphere got tense. Adrien looked like a little kitten, his green eyes getting big as I approached him. _Oh this was gonna be good._

"Adrien…" I said in a low voice, "I have something to tell you. It's really, really important," I looked down at his shoes as if I was being shy. Really, it was to hide the grin that was threatening to spread across my face.

"Wh-what is it?" he breathed. I slowly raised my head (dramatic effect) and saw his shocked expression. A light blush covered his cheeks and I felt a surge of triumph. Alya and Nino were dead silent and I could feel their eyes on us.

I took a step closer and looked him directly in the eye. I leaned closer and whispered, "Your shirt's on backwards." To accent my point, I tugged on the tag sticking out under his chin.

He floundered for a minute looking down at his shirt and back up at me. I smirked before turning to walk away. I stopped a little ways away and called over my shoulder, "Adrien, that's what real acting looks like." The alien in my body shot him a wink before grabbing the shell shocked Alya and tugging her away to class. I could hear Nino yelling "ROASTED," at the other end of the hall.

"Marinette, I'm not even gonna ask where that came from. Judging by the look on your face, you don't know either," she mumbled as we sat down in home room. What had just happened was finally catching up with me. I guess the alien decided to ditch me and let me deal with what I had done.

"Listen to me," Alya grabbed my shoulders and turned me toward her, "You are not going to freak out over this. You were super confident, suave, and funny. Adrien was eating out of your hand. I thought I would die when-Who is that little kid?" she trailed off looking over my shoulder. I turned around and sure enough, there was a little boy sitting in Kim's seat.

The little boy seemed to hear Alya's remark because he let out a huff and started glaring at us. I noticed for the first time that the boy looked a lot like a four year old version of Kim. He was even wearing clothes like him.

"Hi there," I said waving at the boy, "Are you Kim's little brother?" This seemed to infuriate him, because he jumped down from his seat and put his little hands on his hips.

"I am NOT Kim's little brother. I'M KIM. Why can't anyone get that? My mom made some sort of wish this morning about me staying her baby forever and poof!" he gestured to himself. I smelled an akuma. Baby Kim threw up his hands in exasperation just as Adrien and Nino walked in.

"I'm so done with this magic BS," Kim said as he hoisted himself unto his chair.

"Who's this?" Adrien asked me with a raised eyebrow. I was walking over to Baby Kim hurriedly.

"That's Kim, apparently," Alya said baffled. I was in action mode so I decided to cut to the meat of the matter.

"I don't know what's going on but I'm pretty sure this has Hawk Moth written all over it," I said, bending down to look at a pouting Baby Kim.

Adrien and Nino came up behind me, while Alya started typing furiously on her phone. I assumed she was looking for news on an akuma. Other students were coming in and they were eyeing up Kim.

"Kim, we should leave before people start asking too many questions. We don't want to start a panic. Let's go somewhere and figure this out." It felt weird, talking to such a small child so gravely. I held out my arms to him my most pleading look. He rolled his eyes but nodded, giving me the okay to pick him up.

"We're coming with you," Adrien said with conviction. I looked at him and shrugged with my classmate on my hip. _I agree with Baby Kim, this magic BS is getting old._

We all three hurried to a nearby storage closet. It smelled of mold and dust but it worked well enough. Alya finally looked up from her phone to show us a live news cast of downtown Paris. "Mama Sugar" was turning everyone into five year old versions of themselves. _Scary and evil, but also a little cute._

"We should get Ladybug and Chat Noir," Adrien said as soon as the video ended (with the anchorwomen getting turned into little girl and running away crying). I caught his arm.

"Slow your roll. We need to have something to tell them. I'm sure they know about the akuma but we need to find out how to defeat her," I said, trying to calm him. We needed to be smart. Besides, I figured Chat could handle her until I found out more.

"Hey, that's my mom, you're talking about!" Baby Kim yelled beside my ear. I winced and sat him down.

"Kim," Adrien started as he got down on one knee to talk to the small teenager/kid, "She's Hawk Moth's slave now. We have to figure out how to break his hold on her. Can you tell us what happened this morning, exactly?" Kim seemed to realize the severity of the situation and nodded at Adrien.

He went through the mundane details of the morning, like running out of toothpaste and not being able to find clean socks. Nino was the one who finally urged the boy to get to the point. Kim pouted but hurried up. He said that his mother had been going on and on about a Mother's Day card he had made for her as a child.

"She was so happy to have found it. I-I didn't really listen to her much. Sorry. I do remember her asking me if I was coming home for lunch but I told her I had plans. As I was leaving, she blew me a kiss like she always does. Then poof," Baby Kim said. His little face was full of grown-up guilt. I felt a surge of pity for him and his mom. I knew what I had to do.

"Where are you going?" Alya asked as I made to leave the closet.

"Now I need to find Chat and tell him what we know. The akuma must be in the card," I said, a little impatiently. The more time I wasted, the harder this mess would be to clean up.

"We'll go with you!" Nino said, picking Kim up, who protested at the action.

"No, you stay with Kim and keep him safe," I was half way out the door when Adrien caught my arm.

"It's too dangerous, Marinette," his close proximity and serious voice would have made normal me melt. But I was on a mission now.

"This is not up for debate," my voice was steel.

"I know," he said to my surprise, "I'm going to go with you."

"But it's too…" cut me off by thumping my nose.

"This is not up for debate," he said with a cheeky grin. My heart fluttered and I nodded. We bolted down the hallway and out of school.

We didn't have to go far to find Kim's mom. The lady in a fluffy pink ball gown and apron was floating in the courtyard, blowing kisses at the students fleeing in every direction. The invisible 'sugar' caught several teens, turning them into little ones with a puff of glitter. _Hawk Moth really outdid himself this time._


	7. A deceased person Part 2

"WHERE IS MY BABY?!" Mama Sugar bellowed, flying closer to the ground, scanning the remaining students. My eyes searched the area in search of Chat. I really wished Adrien had stayed behind. Now I would have to ditch him and find somewhere to transform.

"Where is my Chat?" I mumbled, distracted. I had just turned to Adrien to suggest we split up and search when I felt something wet hit the back of my neck. It felt like someone had just given me a sloppy kiss there. The next thing I knew, I was surrounded in a cloud of glitter. _Well, crap._

"Marinette!" Adrien yelled, sweeping me up in his arms. _I always imagined this happening much differently._ McDreamy was running in an instant, making his way toward the exit.

"Where are we going?" I asked in confused irritation. I could hardly recognize my own voice, it was so bell-like, but I couldn't dwell on that, "We have to find Chat!" Adrien was still running, quickly leaving the courtyard and the akuma behind.

"No, we have to get you somewhere safe. Then I'll find Chat," Adrien wasn't looking at me, focused on his mission. I found myself supremely irritated with my crush. At that moment, I didn't care who he was. He was getting in my way and I didn't appreciate it.

"No, take me back! We don't have time for this!" The school was no longer in sight. Any other time, I would have marveled at his stamina. We were almost flying!

"No," he said with finality. I felt my face flush with anger. My tiny hands balled up in fists and I started pounding on his chest with all the strength in my four year old body.

"Adrien Agreste! You take me back there right now! I swear, I'll…"

"You'll what, exactly?" he said with a smile, turning his head to face me. We were within feet of the bakery and his steps had slowed to a light jog. He ran the whole way and he wasn't even winded!

"I'll-I'll bite you!" my shrill voice yelled. Adrien had the nerve to laugh as he opened the bakery door. I saw red. The next thing I knew, my mother was pulling me off of the poor boy, who I'd sunk my teeth in. Adrien didn't look mad though, as he rubbed his forearm. In fact, he started laughing hysterically. _Oh God, I broke him._

"I can't believe you actually did it!" he said holding his knees out of breath, still laughing. _So flat out running doesn't get you but laughing does._

"My Marinette! You were struck by that Mama person!" my mother cried, bring Adrien and I back to reality. She pulled me close to her chest and gave me an enveloping hug that I didn't know I had missed.

"I'm okay, mom," I said, my small hands patting her back. I looked up to catch Adrien staring at us with something like longing in his green eyes. I remembered the time I visited him as Ladybug and saw the pictures of his mother. I don't know what happened to her but I do know she's not in his life anymore. A flood of pity came over me and I pulled back from mom.

"I'm sorry I bit you," I said even though I was sorry for so much more.

"Nah, I deserved it," he waved his had as if it was nothing, smiling his squinty eyed smile.

"Thank you for taking care of her, Adrien," my mother said, her voice full of gratitude. Adrien looked embarrassed and he was about to say something when my dad came busting in the front door.

"I went to the school and she wasn't th-," he said in a worried voice until he caught sight of me. He rushed toward me and swept me into his arms. He had obviously run all the way and he wasn't as well off as Adrien. Sweat or no sweat, it was one of the best hugs I've ever had.

"My macaroon," he said out of breath kissing my forehead, "You're a little one again? We're starting over?" he looked at my mother with wide eyes full of shock and maybe a little bit of excitement.

"Oh no," I said, my little voice full of attitude, "I AM NOT GOING THROUGH PUBERTY AGAIN!" I said pushing myself out of dad's arms. Adrien cleared his throat, reminding me of his presence. _Why was he still there?_

"Mr. Tom, Miss Sabine, keep her here. I'm going to find Chat Noir and Ladybug," the blonde boy nodded to my parents and started toward the door. My parents called out their thanks to him, like he was a costumer leaving the store. I half expected them to say "Come again!"

I turned and looked at my parents. They were staring at me like I was some sort of puppy. Maybe one with rabies because there was fear in their eyes. I sized them up, then bolted from the door.

"Oh no you don't," mom said scooping me up easily, "It's not safe."

"You heard the pretty boy you always talk about. You're staying here," my dad said patting my head. They were enjoying this way too much. I felt myself form a pout, which had them both cooing. My mom leaned her head down and gave me a peck on the forehead.

Suddenly, there was a poof of glitter and I was falling to the floor with my mother. My normal body was squishing my mother's as we coughed on the sparkly magic BS.

"What happened?" Dad coughed as he pulled me off Mom. My head was racing. I felt Tikki tapping against my purse. She knew what was up too.

"Mom kissed me and broke the spell. I have to tell Chat! A mother's kiss breaks the spell!" I ran out of the store, escaping them in their confusion. It felt amazing to have everything the right size again as I hurried back to the school. In an empty alley way, I ducked behind a dumpster to transform. Tikki quickly told me she was proud of me for being so levelheaded before we transformed. I swung the rest of the short distance to my school.

Mama Sugar was still there if the screams of horror where anything to go by. _Honestly, this is hardly the worst akuma ever. Though the thought of doing the sixth grade over again is horrifying._ She was no longer in the courtyard having made her way to the building. I wondered if Alya and Nino still had Kim hidden.

Taking in the scene quickly, I saw that almost everyone had been turned into a child. A little Cloé was throwing a tantrum beside a tiny Sabrina. I even saw a little Mr. Damocles with a disturbing child beard. I let out a grown when I caught sight of Alya waving at me from behind a table. She had not been kissed by Mama Sugar but I saw Baby Nino peak out from behind the table. Kim was in her arms, looking absolutely mortified.

Of course his mother saw him. She let out an evil laugh as she blew a kiss at Alya. I was sure she would be hit when a little metal circle of some kind flew out of nowhere and 'hit' the kiss. I saw that the UFO was a small metal rod as it stuck in the side of the building. I turned to see where it came from, and you can guess who I saw.

Baby. Chat. Let me say it again, I don't think you get it. BABY CHAT NOIR. It was Chat but tiny. Baby cat ears, tiny little clawed hands, a cute little tail; it was the cutest thing ever. I let out a squeal before running toward the tiny hero, his face scrunched up in annoyance. I swooped him up and used my yo-yo to get us to the roof.

"My lady, where have you been? If you can't see, I've had my paws full," his voice was a bit cranky but I could tell he was relieved to see me. I couldn't help but giggle at his little voice.

"I'm sure they were, Chaton! They're so tiny!" I sat him down and bent over laughing. Baby Chat was not amused.

"Hardy-har. This is serious, Ladybug," he put his hands on his little hips and put on a serious face. I tried to stop but he was too much. I managed to stifle my laughter to small giggles and straightened myself.

"First time you want to be serious and it's when you're a four year old," I wiped a tear from my eye and ruffled his hair. Chaton let out a baby growl and crossed his arms in a pout. He was so cute, I couldn't stand it. I started petting his head, and he let out little purrs. I melted.

"First time you willingly pet me and it's when I'm a four year old," he said with a little purr. That reminded me that this wasn't really Baby Chat but regular Chat in kitten's clothing. I stopped petting him and focused on the task at hand.

"It's lucky I know how to turn you back," I said smugly.

"Really?" his high-pitched voice was full of joy, "You're the best, my lady! How?"

"You'll need to detransform and have your mother kiss you. I mean, you might not have to detransform. I don't know if your parents know about all this…" I turned to see Chaton's face clouded over.

"My mother?" he asked, this big green eyes looking up at me like…like nothing I can describe. All I could do was nod. Baby Chat closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was a very adult action.

"Well, that's not going to work," he said with a sad smile, "She passed away." His little voice tried to sound indifferent but I heard the sting. I bent down on one knee and put my hand on his cheek.

"I'm so sorry, Chat," I saw tears brimming in his eyes and it crushed me. I guess he could see it on my face because he pulled away from my hand and went to look over the side of the building. I had been tooning out the screams of terror (probably not the best thing for a super heroine to do).

"No, I'm sorry. Looks like you're on your own this time, my lady," he said, his voice full of disappointment.

"Don't count yourself out yet, Kitty," I picked him up and swung down to the where the akuma was. She had finally found Alya, kissing her as soon as my feet hit the ground.

"Her akuma is in the card in her right hand. I'll distract her," he made to run off but I grabbed his tail.

"You could get hurt."

"How? I'm already turned into a fur ball. And it's not like she's gonna hit a kid," he yanked his tail out of my fist with surprising force and rushed at the floating pink mom. She almost had Baby Kim when Chaton flew into the air and kicked square in the face with his tiny feet.

Turns out Mama Sugar was totally fine with hitting kids. She smacked Chaton, sending him soaring. I barely caught him before he hit the wall. The little one had the gall to look mad at me.

"Don't worry about me! Get the akuma!" First Adrien, now Baby Chat; I was tired of being bossed. I plopped him on the ground not so gently.

"STAY," I pointed at him firmly, "I can't fight worrying about your little butt." To my surprise, he listened. I took care Mama Sugar pretty quickly, thanks to Baby Kim. He pulled the card from her hand and gave it to me. _Wish we would have done that in the being._

A deceased person I wish I could talk to Part 2

Everyone changed back in a poof of glitter. I didn't have to use my lucky charm, but Mama Sugar had done very little damage anyway. Chat was back to normal, flirty/puny self. He said he would take care of the reporters for me, which I was thankful for. My fatigue from being sick was catching up with me.

Journal, I called Adrien but he didn't answer. I'm sure all this mom stuff hurt him as much as it hurt Chat. I feel so bad for both of them, but Chat in particular. Today must have been even worse for him, being left a helpless child without a mother. I really wish I could meet the woman who made my Chaton.


	8. My Crush

Author's note: Hi, guys! Let me just say how sorry I am for this EXTREMELY late update. RL had me going crazy. Prom, school, family issues, friend problems: you name it, I've had it thrown at me. Not to mention, writer's block paid a visit! Anyway, here's a longer chapter to try to make up for it. I'm not too sure I like this one but I had to write something. I am getting a grade on this and it's definitely going to be overdue as it is. Luckily, my teacher loves me and forgives my horrendous behavior. I hope you can do the same3

PS: The scene!Adrien was something I saw on tumblr. If you have a link to the original post, please share so I can put it on here!

PPS: Uncle Wang's girlfriend's son will come into play later. It is not just one of my many random tangents.

My Crush

Journal, I was an absolute idiot today. For the whole day, my brain decided to go chill somewhere else and left me alone. And I do mean the whole day. Like from when I woke up till right now as I write this in my bed. Let me just elaborate on my brainlessness.

I got up early, ready to go to school. My last first day back had been cut short because of someone's empty nest syndrome. I was determined to make it through the whole school day, no matter what. Tikki agreed that my absente record was getting on up there but she also told me to cut myself some slack.

"Marinette, I know it's difficult, juggling your responsibilities as a student, daughter, and superhero. Still, you handle it all with admirable grace," she chimed as she flew around my head. I snorted at her comment as I brushed my teeth. The action made me choke on toothpaste and I spit/coughed all over my mirror.

"A yes, the picture of grace," I grumbled as I cleaned up my mess. Tikki let out a sweet giggle before perching on my shoulder.

"All I'm saying is, you have a lot on your plate. Getting sick may have put you behind a bit at school but I think it was your body's way of telling you to take a break," her little voice was serious and full of wisdom. It was times like these that I remembered how old my red friend was. I simply smiled at her in the mirror and rubbed her head with my finger.

I hurried down stairs only to be greeted by an empty living room. I shrugged it off, thinking mom and dad had decided to open the shop a little earlier than usual. They did lose a whole afternoon of business from the akuma attack.

My steps slowed as I neared the bakery door as I notice the unusual silence. Opening the creaky door slowly, I saw the bakery floor, dim and empty. There was no smell of fresh baked pastries, no sounds of customers. My heart sank with worry. Something was wrong.

I raced back upstairs to my parents room and threw open the door. My eyes were as big as saucers as I frantically scanned the room. They were both sleeping peacefully in bed. Well, they were until the door hit the wall, knocking off a few pictures with the force.

"WHAAT?! Marinette? What's the matter?!" my mom jerked up first, fists raised in fighting position. My father took longer to realize it was me. He was holding my mother with big, fearful eyes. You can see who the real tough guy is and who the marshmallow is.

"I thought something had taken you!" I said as I jumped onto the crowded bed to hold them. There really wasn't room in the small mattress but they let me in. Their sweet smell and sleepy laughter made the tension that consumed my body melt away.

"Taken us?" my dad's voice was full of drowsy confusion as he rubbed my head, "My macaroon, what made you think that? A bad dream, hmm?" He threw his arm over mom and me. I felt like I was in the middle of a Dupain-Cheng sandwich. It was delightfully stifling.

"No, Papa. It just scared me when I couldn't find you in the living room or the bakery. Why aren't you both up, by the way?" I leaned up on one elbow, awkwardly. There really was no room to move around at all even though we were all lying on our sides.

"Well, we usually open up a little later on the weekends," my mother giggled, "Mari, please tell me you weren't trying to go to school on a Saturday?" Insert my face palm.

"Saturday?" I squeaked. The bed shook with their laughter. I couldn't help but crack a smile too. Looks like I'll have to put off school for another two days.

"Mari, I love you but this bed isn't big enough for the three of us, partner," Papa tried to do a cowboy accent but it ended up sounding more like a drunk, slurring pirate. My dad might be an amazing baker but his fake accents are horrendous. Mom and I started giggling while he faked like he was hurt.

"What? I sound just like a cow-poke!" his tone full of mock indignation. I snorted as I got up.  
"Mari, you used to love my accents when I told you bed time stories. My little girl, all grown up into a young women," he had started out teasing but ended on a sentimental note. His statement brought back the events of yesterday.

Chat had been a baby. I had been a baby. I bit Adrien. I BIT ADRIEN. I. BIT. ADRIEN. AGRESTE. I'm sure mom and dad thought I was insane when I ran out of the room squealing but I didn't care. I mean, I am insane. Who bites their crush?

To take my mind off the unmentionable event, I checked my emails. There was one from Uncle, which was short and to the point. His French had really improved, his letter having only a few errors. He had attached my email with the corrections to my Chinese. It was something we both did, editing each other's work to learn.

Uncle mentioned something that caught my attention. Apparently, his girlfriend's son was helping him with his French. He asked me if that was considered cheating in our learning experience! I told him I thought it was a great idea and asked him to tell me more about his girlfriend and her son.

I got about half way through my letter when I decided to take a break and bring up some snacks. While I ate at my desk, I checked out the Ladyblog. Alya did not disappoint. The top article was an adorable, candid photo of Baby Chat! I nearly choked on my bagel, I laughed so hard. _Yes I want to print, please and thank you!_

Before it even finished printing, there was a tap on my window. I knew without turning around who it was, of course. I motioned for him to come in without ever taking my eyes off the copier.

"Hello, Princess. What's got your attention so wrapped up?" the cheeky kitty asked, his head leaning over my shoulder. _Cats don't understand personal space._

"You do, my Chaton," I used my sweetest voice, angling my head toward his. This seemed to fluster him, which thrilled me.

"I-I do?" he leaned back and I turned to face him. With one hand behind my back, I snatched the baby photo from the printer and flashed it in his face.

"Such a cute kitty! I think I'll keep it," I held the photo out of his reach as he snatched at it.

"Come on, that's just mean!" he said but his voice was full of humor. His long arms could have taken the picture if he really wanted it. Call me crazy (which you might) but I think he was just using it as an excuse to stand closer to me. And for some (crazy) reason, I let him.

"I'll just print another one, you know. If you care about the environment and saving paper, you'll let me just keep my first copy."

"Well, when you say it like that…" he did his silly bow thing for no reason, "I guess I can't deny my princess, especially when she wants what's best for the environment. I am very green-friendly, you see." He accented his position by pointing to his widening eyes.

"Get it? 'Cause my eyes are green? Eh?" I may or may not have punched him.

"Meow-ch! My poor arm!" Chat may or may not have said. I rolled my eyes and went to put the picture in my desk drawer. The nosy little stinker took that as invitation to stick his little cat nose into my business.

"Is this were you keep all your photos of me? Maybe a few love poems too? Don't be shy, Mari," Chat Noir pushed me aside casually as he began rummaging through my drawer.

"CHAT! That's private!" I grimaced when I saw what the young super hero had in his hand. It was my Adrien Agreste magazine clippings. Well, the ones I couldn't throw away at least. I thanked my lucky stars he never saw my room in my real obsession days.

Chat had the decency to look embarrassed. The blush peaked from under his mask and colored his ears. It was nothing compared to my blush though. I think 90% of my blood was in my face. It certainly felt that way.

"Marinette…?"

"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT, OKAY!" I yelled, grabbing the clippings from his hands, shoving them roughly back in the drawer.

"It's not like what?" his voice was soft and so was his face. It was so genuine; I felt I could almost trust him with the truth. Then I realized this was Chat Noir I was talking about. I ran up my loft stairs and threw myself down on my bed, hiding my face in a pillow.

"Marinette?" his voice was beside my ear. It sounded worried and unsure. I peeked out from under the pillow at him. The blonde hero gave me a pleading look before I hid again.

"Princess, I'm sorry I snooped. I didn't mean to embarrass you," he patted my shoulder in an awkward fashion. Strangely enough, it made me feel better. Chat wasn't making fun of me. He was almost as uncomfortable as I was.

"I forgive you, mangy cat. It's just embarrassing when someone finds out your crush, you know?" I said sitting up.

"Cr-cr-crush?" Chat bolted up. He looked like I just gave him the biggest shock of his life. Honestly, the boy must be on catnip or something.

"Well, yeah… I thought it was kind of obvious?" I tilted my head to the side. Chat was acting super weird.

"You like Adrien? Adrien Agreste?" he wouldn't look at me. I was worried for a second he was upset but he just seemed bewildered.

"Are you jealous?" I teased. He turned his big green eyes on me and I could tell he thought I was serious.

"Jealous? Why would I be jealous of a boring teenager?" he snorted. It was more obnoxiously arrogant than usual. It irked me.

"First off, I don't appreciate your **cat-titude** , thank you very much. Secondly, Adrien is my friend and he is not boring. He's a very interesting and accomplished young man," I stuck my chin up in defiance. Chat thumped my throat before he got up from my loft bed and made his way back down from the flat.

"Why do you like this Adrien? Is it because he's a pretty model, hmm?" his voice was detached but I could hear the caring undertone. My answer mattered.

"No! I mean, yes, it's nice that I can see him almost everywhere in Paris on billboards and stuff but that's not why I like him. It's not about the looks, though he is beautiful…" I got lost in daydreaming about my classmate. Chat cleared his throat and brought me back. I saw he was opening the drawer with the clippings, looking through them.

"What do you like about him then? Is it… the money? His connections?" his voice was low and he wouldn't look at me. I had never been so mad at him.

"WHO DO YOU THINK I AM?! LET ME JUST TELL YOU…" I stopped myself and took some calming breaths. Chat could very well be friends with Adrien. He could be simply looking out for his friend. I needed to control my emotions a little.

"Chat, I'm sorry I yelled. That's just something I'm very sensitive about. You see, there is this very rich girl in my class who doesn't like me. She flaunts her money and her connection to Adrien to hurt me. I-I know I don't have much, but I wouldn't trade my family for all the money and connections in the world. I'm not after Adrien's wealth or his father's power. Those things aren't important. In fact, I think sometimes they hurt Adrien more than they help him."

"You… you are amazingly insightful, Marinette. I apologize for what I said," his eyes glowed with admiration as he turned to look at me. His voice had a sad tone though. I hope I didn't hurt him, Journal.

"Let's stop saying we're sorry for this afternoon, Chaton. Sound like a plan?" The young boy nodded and smiled up at me. I walked down to the flat. I sat on my rug and he followed, spreading out the Adien clippings.

"I wish that girl didn't make you feel insecure, my princess. You have much more than she ever will," Chat mumbled as he thumbed through the pictures. I don't think he was really looking at them, only trying to avoid my eye.

"I know," I said and he looked up at me expectantly, "I think she lacks something at home. Maybe structure or something? Anyway, she only knows how to manipulate people into being her 'friends.' I think that's kind of sad, actually. She makes me so mad sometimes I forget to feel bad for her!" the last part was meant to be a joke but it carried real emotion.

"Don't ever let her make you feel like you're not as important as she is, or even Adrien for that matter," he put a clawed hand over mine. Chat was being so sweet and real. There was no teasing in his voice. I felt my heart expand at his warm expression.

"Oh! You have to see this! Just promise not to make fun of him, okay?" I said, interrupting the sweet moment. I couldn't handle this side of Chat Noir for too long. I could feel the blush pooling in my cheeks again. Looking through the pile, I finally found what I was looking for. Triumphantly, I handed it to the alley cat.

"That, my feline friend, is how I try to get courage to talk to Adrien. If Adrein Agreste, Paris's number one on the Hotties in Highschool list, went through a 'scene' phase, then he's still just a boy. Albeit a very kind, generous, funny, smart, and beautiful boy."

Chat was still staring at the picture in shock. I'll admit, it was shocking. Imagine a twelve year old Adrien, a pre-teen angel. No one looks cool in the sixth grade. The exception to this rule is, of course, my classmate. He actually pulls off the "RAWR dinosaurs are cool"

t-shirt and skinny jeans. Although his jeans are mostly holes. His hair has had better days… The black and green stripes in it might have been cute if it wasn't so extreme. All in all, this was an embarrassing photo of my friend. As is only natural, it is my favorite picture of him. I will cherish it forever.

"I-I can't believe you have this! I thought they were… I mean, where did you find this?!" Chat seemed extremely disturbed by the innocent magazine photo. He was gripping it rather tightly and I worried his claws would poke right through.

"Oh, Alya found it for me in some obscure archive while looking for Ladybug related articles. She thought it would give me some confidence to talk to Adrien. And it didn't exactly work but it does remind me that he is not on some magical plain without awkwardness, you know?" I said as I tried to tug the paper from his hands. Reluctantly, he let me have it.

"So… you think he's a dork because of how he dressed when he was a kid, right?" Chat's voice seemed a bit wounded for some reason. I snorted at his observation but I took note of his mood. Maybe Chat was secretly a Hot Topic hoe?

"No, you crazy cat! Everyone does silly or embarrassing stuff when they're that age. Like I've been trying to say, it makes me feel like he's sort of… I don't know, within my reach?" I looked down at the picture and chuckled a little bit after I finished speaking. When I looked back up at the black clad super hero, I noticed his shoulders had relaxed. _Yep, Chat was a scene kid._

"Marinette, I was thinking…" his ring beeped. It looked like our little Adrien convention was coming to an end. Chat Noir seemed supremely irritated as he glanced down at his ring.

"I was thinking," he continued, "You shouldn't sell yourself short. Adrien isn't any more of a person than you. He is not better than you. I don't want you feeling inferior to anyone," he put his hand under my chin and lifted my head which had lowered as he spoke. I noticed he was standing much closer than strictly necessary but I didn't step back.

"Th-thank you, Chaton. You really are my knight in shining armor," I winked at him to cover up my timidity. I knew I was blushing but so was he.

"Any time, my princess. Adrien… he's lucky to have you as a… friend," Chat's eyes wouldn't meet mine. He was trying to give me his usual flirty Chat persona but he faltered at the end. He was really embarrassed and I felt guilty for admitting my crush to him. Could Chat have feelings for me? Or did he just feel self-conscious in this situation?

"You know you're my friend too, Kitty," I pulled him into a hug. He could have been mean. He could have teased me about my silly crush/obsession. Chat didn't do anything like that. My partner had been the perfect confidant.

I felt him tense for a moment at my embrace but he soon returned it, pulling me in a tight hug. The next thing I knew, my feet were lifted off the ground as Chat held me tight and spun around quickly. His laugh was familiar and pleasant as I squealed in his arms. It vibrated through his chest to my heart and I couldn't help but join in with him.

"I guess I should be heading on out. It's been **paw-some**!" he said as he sat me down. I shoved his chest and rolled my eyes. I opened my mouth to say something but his ring beeped again, this time more insistently.

"See you later, Chaton," I said with what I know was a horribly huge grin. I couldn't help it. Chat had really lifted my spirits. Not to mention he had literally lifted me. Chat sent me a cheeky smirk and short bow before high- **tail** ing it (see what I did there) out of my room. Journal, even though I stayed at home this Saturday, I feel like I've accomplished a lot.


End file.
